Xeon E3-1280 vs Gold 6138

Primary details

Comparing Xeon Gold 6138 and Xeon E3-1280 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking	459	1531
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	4.44	1.13
Market segment	Server	Server
Series	Intel Xeon Gold	no data
Power efficiency	11.57	3.53
Architecture codename	Skylake (server) (2017−2018)	Sandy Bridge (2011−2013)
Release date	25 April 2017 (7 years ago)	3 April 2011 (13 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$2,612	$450

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

Xeon Gold 6138 has 293% better value for money than Xeon E3-1280.

Detailed specifications

Xeon Gold 6138 and Xeon E3-1280 basic parameters such as number of cores, number of threads, base frequency and turbo boost clock, lithography, cache size and multiplier lock state. These parameters indirectly say of CPU speed, though for more precise assessment you have to consider their test results.

Physical cores	20 (Icosa-Core)	4 (Quad-Core)
Threads	40	8
Base clock speed	2 GHz	3.5 GHz
Boost clock speed	3.7 GHz	3.9 GHz
Bus type	DMI 3.0	no data
Bus rate	4 × 8 GT/s	no data
Multiplier	20	no data
L1 cache	1.25 MB	64 KB (per core)
L2 cache	20 MB	256 KB (per core)
L3 cache	27.5 MB	8 MB (shared)
Chip lithography	14 nm	32 nm
Die size	no data	216 mm2
Maximum core temperature	86 °C	74 °C
Number of transistors	no data	1,160 million
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	+	-

Compatibility

Information on Xeon Gold 6138 and Xeon E3-1280 compatibility with other computer components: motherboard (look for socket type), power supply unit (look for power consumption) etc. Useful when planning a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. Note that power consumption of some processors can well exceed their nominal TDP, even without overclocking. Some can even double their declared thermals given that the motherboard allows to tune the CPU power parameters.

Number of CPUs in a configuration	4 (Multiprocessor)	1
Socket	FCLGA3647	LGA1155
Power consumption (TDP)	125 Watt	95 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Xeon Gold 6138 and Xeon E3-1280. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® AVX-512	Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX
AES-NI	+	+
AVX	+	+
vPro	+	no data
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	+
Speed Shift	+	no data
Turbo Boost Technology	2.0	2.0
Hyper-Threading Technology	+	+
TSX	+	-
Idle States	no data	+
Thermal Monitoring	-	+
Flex Memory Access	no data	+
Demand Based Switching	no data	+
Turbo Boost Max 3.0	-	no data
FDI	no data	-
Fast Memory Access	no data	+

Security technologies

Xeon Gold 6138 and Xeon E3-1280 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	+	+
EDB	+	+
Identity Protection	-	+

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Xeon Gold 6138 and Xeon E3-1280 are enumerated here.

VT-d	+	+
VT-x	+	+
EPT	+	+

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Xeon Gold 6138 and Xeon E3-1280. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR4-2666	DDR3
Maximum memory size	768 GB	32 GB
Max memory channels	6	2
Maximum memory bandwidth	128.001 GB/s	21 GB/s
ECC memory support	+	+

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Xeon Gold 6138 and Xeon E3-1280.

PCIe version	3.0	2.0
PCI Express lanes	48	20

Synthetic benchmark performance

Various benchmark results of the processors in comparison. Overall score is measured in points in 0-100 range, higher is better.

---

Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark performance rating. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

---

Pros & cons summary

---

Performance score	15.28	3.54
Recency	25 April 2017	3 April 2011
Physical cores	20	4
Threads	40	8
Chip lithography	14 nm	32 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	125 Watt	95 Watt

---

Should you still have questions on choice between Xeon Gold 6138 and Xeon E3-1280, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

Vote for your favorite

Do you think we are right or mistaken in our choice? Vote by clicking "Like" button near your favorite CPU.

---